Student Achievement and the Distribution of Human and Fiscal Resources in Mississippi Public School Districts

Johnson, Jerry

Rural School and Community Trust

In an effort to explore whether resources matter in Mississippi, this study investigates the relationship between: (1) student achievement; and (2) human and fiscal resources among school districts. In considering these relationships, it is important to recognize that the cost of providing an adequate education may vary with the socioeconomic characteristics of the district, and that other factors may affect the relationship between achievement patterns and resources. For instance, districts that serve higher percentages of students who face non-academic barriers to high achievement (poverty, low education levels among adults, etc.) require additional resources to "level the playing field" for their students. With that in mind, the study also includes socioeconomic characteristics of school districts and their communities in the analysis. Findings suggest that the distribution of human and fiscal resources throughout the state does in fact mirror the distribution of student achievement, in ways that place school systems serving the most challenged student populations in the unenviable position of attempting to do more for their students with fewer resources available. (Contains 11 figures, 5 tables, and 3 footnotes.)